Via Veneto

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Via Veneto, yesterday and today

Via Veneto"Sophia Loren is with Errol Flynn and Audrey Hepburn with Anthony Quinn". That mythical ditty sums up the recent history of this short boulevard which is the Champs Elysee or the Fifth Avenue of Rome.

In the roaring 1950's it reflected the glamour of the Dolce Vita, with Cafes where beautiful people sat all day hoping to be either photographed or discovered, and with the elegant shopping haunts of Hollywood-on-the-Tiber.

The cafes are still here, as are most of the nice shops. The new feature is glass-enclosed outdoor restaurant areas which succeed each other down the street like circus elephants holding each others tails.

At the top end of Via Veneto you will see the monumental Aurelian Walls that have surrounded Rome for seventeen centuries.When the Aurelian Walls were built, during the last quarter of the Third Century AD, Rome's decline had already started. For the several centuries before that, Rome's protective barrier had been at the outer edges of the Empire: Spain, Syria and Northern England (where Hadrian's Wall in still today an imposing sight like the Wall of China).

In the last quarter of the 19C the Ludovisi princes took advantage of the real estate boom to carve up their huge estate into the upper middle class blocks you see today. They laid out a new boulevard, Via Veneto, with a wide curve to help the carriage horses make it up the hill from the Piazza of their neighbors, the Barberini. The last vestiges of the Ludovisi family (descended from Pope Gregory XV) are the Casino dell'Aurora among the trees high above Via Aurora, and the original Villa Ludovisi hidden behind Palazzo Margherita, the American Embassy.

Shopping on Via Veneto can be summed up in three words: leather, jewelry and fashion. These shops are interspersed with many of Rome's best hotels and coffee bars.

Via Veneto

History

1C BC. This entire area was a gigantic vineyard, orchard and working farm belonging to Julius Caesar, extending from the present Villa Borghese to Via Flavia. At Caesar's death it was bought by the powerful and newly rich Sallust. By the 19 C AD, the Via Veneto area was in the hands of the Ludovisi family.

271 AD. Aurelian Walls. Emperor Aurelian launched the ten year project of surrounding the city of Rome and its seven hills with massive fortifications because the barbarians (who toppled the Empire just two hundred years later) were knocking at the door. At their apogee, the walls had 383 towers, 5 principal entryways, 116 latrines and 2066 windows.

403 AD. Porta Pinciana. Emperor Honorius built this massive gate in the walls that protected Rome from invasion - after the "colonies" had already been breached and conquered.

1614. These gates were used by the Borghese family to enter their vast Villa Gardens.

1870. When Rome became the capital of a recently united Italy, the new government, in pursuit of modernization, decided to raze the now useless walls. Luckily, a few diehard Romans banded together in protest, squatted in the crevices of the walls, and generally kicked up such a fuss that the authorities finally gave up , and these historic walls were restored and saved for posterity.



American Embassy

(Ambasciata Americana) (1886 Gaetano Koch).The US Embassy and Consulate General itself is impregnable, but you can line up to enter the Consulate building at Via Veneto 123/a. This area used to be the fief of the Ludovisi family, extending to the Aurelian Walls. Palaces, gazebos, the Bird Palace, the moated Gothic Castle, the Labyrinth of the Statues and thousands of trees were destroyed to make way for the builders after Rome became the capital of Italy (1871), with princes scrambling to sell to the property developers.

The old palace, originally the Orsini family's, was remodeled for Prince Ludovisi in 1887 by Gaetano Koch, into the heavy, plonkish building you see today. At the turn of the century, Queen Margarita, who gave her name to the Palazzo, lived here for 26 years, after her husband King Umberto I was killed. He was the son of reunited Italy's first King. You mourn for a few years, and then you become a Merry Widow. Romans beat a path to her door for the smashing parties she gave.

Via Veneto, 119a. Tel. 06 46741


Sallust's Orchard

(Orti di Sallustio) (42 BC-130 AD). Worth noticing, and even visiting with a special permit, this mysterious place is 14m (42 ft) below ground level, a palace built against the Pincian hill. Pretty manicured gardens lead down to it.

One explanation for the difference between the old and the present day levels of Rome is that rubble from the ruins (and garbage) little by little filled up the whole of the ancient city. This place really is very deep down. Perhaps there was an earthquake too, which might have made such a different of height in the ground level!

The circular hall can be seen from the road. This large and comfortable house had many rooms with mosaics and frescoes, and, since Sallust was a rich and important man, a private lavatory.

Sallust's Orchard

History

49 BC. Sallust, praetor, historian and politician, was coerced to join Julius Caesar in his North African campaigns, and when Numidia fell Caesar made him Governor there.

44 BC. Sallust bought this farm land at Caesar's death, hurrying away from Numidia as fast as he could. The Numidians had risen up against him, and sent a delegation to Rome to complain about his severe taxation. So he was very happy to settle down here to live.

34 BC. Sallust died, willing the property to his nephew, who left no heirs. So it passed into Imperial hands.

126 AD. The house was refurbished by Emperor Hadrian.

410 AD. When Alaric swept into Rome at the Porta Pia, he destroyed a large part of it. So the house only lasted 450 years.


Piazza Sallustio (Map J 2)

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